Most Mexican industrial companies that come to us have previously hired pieces of energy consulting: a technical audit with one vendor, a tariff analysis with another, a MEM viability study with a third. The typical outcome is a folder with 80 pages of PDF, two or three recommendations that were never executed, and an electricity bill that looks essentially the same.
The problem is not the technical quality of each piece, but that the savings available in an industrial operation do not decompose into silos. A technical decision affects the contract; a contractual decision changes operations; ESG reporting depends on all three. Plan 360 Management is the integral method by which Enerlogix operates all three levers at once —technical, commercial-regulatory, and operational— under a single team, with unified responsibility and shared metrics.
This article explains the four stages of the method, what is measured in each, and honestly for whom it applies and for whom it doesn't.
Why an integral method
There are three structural reasons why buying separate pieces typically disappoints:
- Contradictory silos. The technical consultant recommends investing in efficiency; the commercial one recommends migrating to MEM; without coordination, both investments compete for capital and no one adjusts the assumptions of the other.
- Diffuse accountability. When projected savings don't materialize, each vendor blames the other: "the contract is correct, the issue is operations"; "operations are fine, the contract was poorly calibrated."
- Loss of continuity. Punctual consulting ends when the report is delivered. But the electricity market is dynamic: today's optimal contract may not be optimal in 12 months due to regulatory shifts, spot volatility, or new suppliers.
Plan 360 Management solves all three problems with a four-stage sequential architecture and a single accountable team.
Stage 1 — Diagnostic
Typical duration: 4 to 8 weeks. It's the most underestimated phase and the one that most distinguishes serious consulting from packaged sales. Four central deliverables:
- Energy audit. Substation inspection, power-quality measurement (power factor, harmonic distortion, phase balance), efficiency evaluation by line or shift, identification of technical opportunities with estimated payback.
- 12-month billing analysis. Reconstruction of real average peso-per-kWh, decomposition by component (energy, demand, power factor, VAT), identification of recurring penalties and seasonal pattern.
- MEM eligibility evaluation. Verification of contracted and verified demand, load factor, technical connection, feasibility as Qualified User under the Electric Industry Law (LIE) framework.
- Sequenced roadmap. What is done first, what next, with horizons, dependencies, and a quantified business case.
When this stage is done well, it already identifies between 5% and 15% of available savings without touching the electricity contract, just by cleaning up inefficiencies and penalties.
Stage 2 — Migration
Typical duration: 4 to 6 months. Applies only if the diagnostic concludes that MEM migration has a solid business case. Five simultaneous fronts:
- Registration with the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) as a Qualified User, with full technical and legal documentation.
- Enrollment with the National Energy Control Center (CENACE) and configuration of the metering point compatible with market participant requirements.
- Competitive Qualified Supplier selection, with structured RFP, quantitative offer comparison, operational due diligence, and verifiable references.
- Contract structuring: firm/spot mix, indexing, exit clauses, financial guarantees, CELs component if applicable for ESG reporting.
- Technical transition with no operational interruption, with a coordination plan among CFE, the incoming supplier, and the client's operation.
To go deeper into the timing and risks of this stage, review MEM Migration: Timing, Risks, and Planning.
Stage 3 — Operations
This is the stage most companies skip when they hire punctual consulting and, paradoxically, where the most savings are lost month over month. Plan 360 Management runs continuously on five routines:
- Monthly CENACE settlement audit vs. supplier invoice, with peso recovery when discrepancies appear.
- Grid Code monitoring —power factor, harmonic distortion, power quality— with early alerts before fines or penalties trigger.
- Contracted demand management vs. actual demand, shift adjustments and load rescheduling to avoid unplanned peaks.
- Monthly operational report with average month cost vs. baseline, accumulated savings, deviation alerts, recommendations for the next period.
- Market surveillance: Local Marginal Price (LMP) by zone, evolution of the generation mix, system events that may affect the client's spot position.
Stage 4 — Continuous improvement
Every quarter, Plan 360 Management runs a deeper structural review:
- Electricity contract revalidation. Is the firm/spot mix still optimal? Are there new suppliers with better offers? Does indexing properly protect against the current natural-gas scenario?
- Identification of new technical measures: efficiency opportunities that emerge with operational changes, expansions, or new technology.
- ESG/CELs review. Validation that Scope 2 reports correctly reflect the contracted renewable mix. For companies with global corporate reporting, integration with frameworks such as CDP, GRI, or SBTi.
- Path to ISO 50001 if applicable. When the client wants to certify their energy management system, Plan 360 Management provides the already-implemented documentation, metrics, and processes as the certification baseline.
What is measured in each stage (KPIs by phase)
| Stage | Central KPIs |
|---|---|
| Diagnostic | Current average kWh cost vs. benchmark; identified savings (MXN/year); measures with payback under 24 months |
| Migration | Time to CRE registration; time to first delivered kWh; selected offer vs. best alternative |
| Operations | Average kWh cost month vs. baseline; accumulated savings vs. fees; avoided penalties; pesos recovered in settlement audit |
| Continuous improvement | New measures implemented; consecutive quarters below target cost; verified ESG compliance |
Without these metrics, consulting becomes narrative. With them, the client can defend the investment to their CFO month over month.
For whom this method is
Plan 360 Management has a solid business case for companies meeting at least three of the following:
- Contracted demand equal to or greater than 1 MW (or a path to reach it within 24 months)
- Annual electricity cost above MXN 10 million
- Continuous industrial operation with a horizon of at least 3 years at the current site
- Corporate or global-customer ESG pressure with verifiable Scope 2 reporting
- Internal team without bandwidth or deep energy specialization
For whom it is not (honesty)
For professional integrity, the method does not apply for:
- Operations with demand well below 1 MW with no growth trajectory
- Companies with annual electricity cost below MXN 5 million
- Intermittent operations with load factor below 30% with no behavioral optimization possibility
- Companies that already have a mature in-house energy team with monitoring, settlement audit, and formalized operational routines
In those cases, we recommend lighter options (punctual audit, contractual review every 18 months) or simply continuing with the in-house team.
How to engage Plan 360 Management
The commercial model is aligned with savings: a fixed portion for delivered work, a contingent portion tied to verified savings. The client receives a monthly report with hard metrics from the first operational month. To understand the broader context of the consultant role, review our pillar guide When and Why Your Industry Needs Energy Consulting and the cluster on what an energy consultant actually does.
If you want a viability evaluation for your operation —including the scenario where Plan 360 does not apply, if that's the result— request a free evaluation or learn the scope of our Energy Consulting service.
